BAY CITY, MI — In the words of the Bay County judge who sent him to prison, being high as kite on psychedelic mushrooms was no excuse for a 20-year-old man to invade an 80-year-old widow’s home and assault her.

Bay County Chief Circuit Judge Kenneth W. Schmidt on Monday, Dec. 23, sentenced Matthew R. Wood to two to 20 years in prison on a charge of first-degree home invasion. Wood pleaded guilty to the charge in November. Schmidt gave Wood credit for two days served and ordered he pay $390.75 in restitution. The judge also did not object to Wood being placed into a boot camp program by the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Wood on the evening of May 2 stumbled into the rural home of Bernice M. Pickvet in the 2800 block of Almeda Beach Road in Fraser Township, knocked her down, then went to sleep on her living room sofa. Pickvet picked herself up and walked to her barn, where her son, grandson and granddaughter were milking cows.

Pickvet’s family members returned to the house and awoke the sleeping Wood, who began fighting with Pickvet’s son, Gary Pickvet, and his son, Kyle Pickvet. The duo subdued Wood.

Bay County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and arrested Wood, who told them he and a cousin had taken psilocybin mushrooms and become separated in a patch of woods. Experiencing a bad trip, Wood walked to Pickvet’s home to rest, he said.

Bernice Pickvet’s daughter, Sherry Lightner, read a statement to Schmidt before he imposed sentence, describing how the incident affected her mom and their family. In it, she described her mother as “a sweet, caring forgiving lady” who has 10 children, 23 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

“There is never a good time for an incident like this to happen, but it was even more devastating with the loss of our dad just six short weeks prior,” Lightner said. “It really turned the mother-hen mode on for the family to protect Mom even more.”

As a result of the incident, Pickvet required eye surgery and suffered many nights with a sore shoulder, hip, arm and leg, Lightner said. She went on to say that various family members have offered suggestions on what Wood’s punishment should be, ranging from him being imprisoned for 20 years to being required to work at a nursing home to learn to appreciate the elderly.

“Some would like him to work 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, on the farm, including milking cows, and to learn how to properly dispose of cow manure,” she said. “Trust me — he would be too tired to get into trouble after a long day on the farm.”

Lightner concluded by expressing a hopeful and forgiving sentiment.

“We all hope he has and will continue to learn from this, and others around him, to get on the right path and turn into a successful, respected American citizen that anyone would be proud … to have in the neighborhood,” she said.

Wood declined to speak when Schmidt afforded him the chance. Schmidt said Wood had practically no criminal history, apart from a minor in possession charge.

“This is a first offense, but what an offense it was,” the judge said. “It’s my understanding it was only the second time you used mushrooms and you were higher than a kite and didn’t know what you were doing, but that’s no excuse for what you did, and that is to break into someone’s house, probably scare the hell out of them, no doubt, and not only that, there was an altercation that occurred. A young man of 20 years of age assaulting an octogenarian citizen of this county … is a very serious incident, in my opinion.”

Wood’s attorney, Edward M. Czuprynski said numerous people had written letters in his support, describing him as “quiet, passive and gentle in every respect.” He added that his client experienced “a psychedelic phenomenon that caused him to basically freak out and act totally, totally out of character.”

Czuprynski added the incident was an eye-opening experience for Wood.

“It’s just a really unfortunate set of circumstances that brought all of this to come to be,” he said.

Wood was free on bond at the time of the sentencing, but Schmidt had him remanded to the custody of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office to await transportation to the Michigan Department of Corrections.